Lessons Learned
by QueenofOld
Summary: Professor James Logan Howlett is known as one of the toughest professors on campus, but when a new freshman named Marie decides that she's up for his challenges, he realizes that he may have met his match both inside of the classroom and out. Grade conflicts, battles of wit and late night tutoring sessions set the stage for an intense, forbidden affair. AU Rogan!
1. Fresh meat

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Author's Note: In order to picture the type of college Marie is in, feel free to Google a random, big American university like the University of Texas or something like that.  
**

* * *

Marie's mother held her close, sobbing over her shoulder as she rubbed her daughter's back, "You call us if you need anything...anything at all, OK?"

She laughed a little, "Ok. Ok, momma. I will."

Her father walked over to gently pry his wife off of Marie, "Come on, Viv. We gotta get goin' princess."

"Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. D'Ancanto. I'll take good care of her", said the young Asian girl, Jubilation Lee, as she put an arm around her.

Marie hugged her father tight, "Love you."

She knew that this day was hard on them. They were dropping their only child off at college, and it was a bitter sweet day for all of them.

At the age of three, Marie was abandoned by her drug addicted mother and placed in foster care. While social workers worked to find any relatives who might be willing to take custody of her, her birth father was busy fleeing the state to avoid getting arrested on simple assault charges.

She was placed in a foster home with a kind, middle aged couple who had never had children of their own. Vivienne and Mark D'Ancanto had always wanted children, but due to a number of medical issues, Vivienne was unable to carry a child to term.

They decided to become foster parents, and dedicate their lives to helping children in need.

When the young Anna Marie was dropped off at their door, they felt an immediate connection to the shy toddler, and within a year, they'd officially adopted her.

She'd lived a pretty charmed life being the only child of an older, financially secure couple who'd been dreaming of being parents for years. Marie excelled in extracurricular activities as well as her academics and was one of the most popular girls in her school. She won homecoming queen and prom queen two years in a row and her boyfriend, Bobby Drake, was the captain of the soccer team. The relationship was one that was born out of expectations more so than affection. He was a popular, handsome athlete, she was a popular, beautiful cheerleader. It only made sense.

They lost their virginity to each other in a fancy hotel room after prom. Marie was reluctant since she honestly didn't feel any real passion for Bobby. She thought that she would feel a fiery, all-consuming desire for a man she wanted to go to bed with.

Those feelings didn't exist with Bobby.

Their first time was awkward, a little painful and lasted all of three minutes. Nearly a month later, after dodging his advances, they tried again. The only improvement was that it didn't hurt and she timed it to be four minutes.

Marie had opted to go to a large university that was a three hours drive away from her parents house so that she could have a traditional, fully immersive college experience. The school was known for its academics, winning football team AND its party scene. Bobby opted to go to the same Ivy League school his father had gone to, so their separation was inevitable.

After months of anticipation, her parents were finally walking out of the door of her dorm room, leaving their one and only baby to fend for herself for the first time since she was found hungry and alone in an abandoned apartment building 15 years ago.

As soon as her parents were out the door, Jubilee clapped her hands together, "What are we gonna get into tonight?"

Jubilee was, what Marie's mom called "a firecracker". She'd met her a couple of months prior at freshman orientation, and took an immediate liking to her spunk, humor and straight-forward attitude. There, they also befriended a girl named Kitty, who, while giggly and goofy, was exceptionally smart and very friendly. Kitty was already planning on rooming with one of her friends from back home, so Jubilee and Marie decided to sign up as roommates.

Their first evening out, the girls decided to hit up one of the on-campus eateries in an effort to get a feel for their fellow students. As they ate, Kitty and Jubilee flirted mercilessly with a nearby table of football players. When a couple of the guys came over to exchange numbers with the table full of attractive young women, Marie politely feigned interest.

After the guys were gone, Kitty and Jubilee began chattering excitedly while Marie stayed quiet. Jubilee took notice of Marie's silence and poked her with a straw, "Hey chica. You're not excited about the side of beefcake we picked up at dinner?"

Marie shrugged, "Those guys really aren't my type."

"What do you mean, they aren't your type? Young, hot, and ready to mingle isn't your type?"

She laughed softly, "I dunno. I think I might be lookin' for somethin I have to wait to find."

Kitty chuckled, "Alright, Yoda. I'll bite. What are you lookin' for in a guy?"

"She shouldn't be looking for anything at all. Her boyfriend looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model", interjected Jubilee.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore", sighed Marie.

Kitty frowned, "Aw. Sorry...do you have a picture?"

"I do!" exclaimed Jubilee as she pulled out her phone.

Marie sat up and looked at her confusedly, "What the hell? How'd YOU get a picture of Bobby?"

"I saw it on your phone and texted it to myself" said Jubilee nonchalantly as she handed her phone to Kitty.

Kitty raised her eyebrows, "Nice. He's cute...and even though I've only known you for like, a split second, I can tell he doesn't seem like your type."

Marie sighed, "Everyone from my hometown begs to differ. We were prom king and queen...I was a cheerleader, he was an athlete. We were the perfect, All American pair."

"Well, this is college, hon. Cheerleaders and prom queens fade into obscurity on campuses as large as this one. There's almost 25,000 students here. Our high school popularity doesn't mean shit", said Jubilee.

Kitty grumbled, "I'm just worried about my classes. I have Intro to Anthropology with some professor the RA warned me about."

Marie furrowed her eyebrows and leaned over to look at her schedule, "I'm taking Intro to Anthropology too. Who's your professor?"

Kitty pulled her schedule out of her purse and unfolded it, "Um...Professor James Logan Howlett..."

Marie and Jubilee both perked up and dug their schedules out of their respective purses. Marie was the first to speak, "I have him for Intro to Anthropology too. What did your RA say about him?"

"Well, she said that he's really cute...but he is super hard", said Kitty.

Jubilee giggled, "No pun intended, eh Kitty?"

Marie bit her lip as she looked at her schedule, "Well, classes start Monday. Should we drop his class so that we can take Intro to Anthropology with an easier, ugly professor, or should we go ahead and take it with the hot, hard professor? No pun intended."

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**Hi all! As promised, I'm closing out with a super sexy Rogan-only fic. It's got an element of forbidden fruit, and, I have to admit, it's one of my own personal fantasies!**

**Please review this chapter (as well as the one I'm about to post immediately following this chap)!  
**


	2. Fundamentals of Attraction 101

Monday afternoon, the girls were walking into Professor Howlett's class. It was a fairly large room with stadium-like seating. Marie looked around and noticed that there were mostly females in the class.

They took their seats and looked around, "Looks like a full house."

"...yeah. A house full of chicks. Why is there a 12 to 1 chick to guy ratio in here?" said Marie.

Jubilee practically rubbed her hands together in glee, "He must be as hot as they say he is."

She pulled out her notepad and pen and glanced at her watch, "Whatever. I'm not concerned about his looks. I'm concerned about keeping my scholarship. I hope he's not late for every freakin' class."

"From what I hear, he's worth the wait", purred a nearby female.

Marie had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

A minute later, she perked up as one of the sexiest, most ruggedly handsome men she'd ever laid eyes on strolled into the classroom. He wore dark jeans with a plaid button down shirt with a tank top underneath and carried a tattered leather briefcase.

He barely glanced at his students as he set his briefcase down on the table in the front of his classroom. He pulled out a couple of books and a large stack up papers before finally acknowledging the presence of the nearly 150 students.

He held up the stack up papers and walked to the front row before dropping them in front of the student who sat at the end of the first row, "This is the class syllabus. It's pretty obvious by now that I shoulda saved myself the trouble and only printed out half of them because I know many of you are gonna drop my class when you realize it's not one of those course you can show up drunk to."

Marie had to remember to close her mouth as she stared at the professor, who was thumbing through a stack of papers.

Logan finally got a good look at the group gathered before him. A bunch of young, freshmen girls.

"Chances are, this is your first ever college course. Congratulations and welcome...but if you're here looking for a fun time, I suggest you get the hell out." He paused for effect as he looked around the room and waited for some of his students to leave. When none moved, he walked around the front of the table and sat upon the edge of it, "I'm Professor James Logan Howlett. I have a Master's in Sociology and a Doctoral degree in Anthropology and Behavioral Sciences. I've participated in field studies in Zambia, Costa Rica and Mongolia. Now that you know plenty about my credentials, you should know that I'm well aware of my reputation in this school."

Jubilee leaned over and whispered with a soft chuckle, "Which one?"

Marie smirked and listened as Professor Howlett continued, "The truth is, I'm only considered difficult to those who walk in here thinking that they're just gonna get this class out of the way. I know this class is a part of your general core requirements and most of you are just hoping to just get through it so that you can move on to other classes, but I expect you to treat this course like more than a means to an end while you're in here. I want you all to learn something. As long as you can demonstrate that you've absorbed the lessons and are taking an genuine interest in learning something...you'll be fine. If your only goal is to pass, we might have some trouble. Any questions?"

Marie, Kitty and Jubilee exchanged looks as they took one of the syllabus' from the stack that was circulating the classroom.

Logan waited for someone in the class to speak up, but when the silence persisted, he clapped his hands together and stood up, "Great. Let's get started." He walked around the table and picked up a book, "This is the primary book for this course. We won't be relying on it after we get into the swing of things...but this should give us a good start."

Logan leaned against the table and crossed his arms, "Anthropology, by definition, is the study of human kind, its societies, cultures and development. Humans...homo sapiens...people...we've got a lot of fancy little names we call ourselves, but when it comes down to it, none of those names matter because, in the end, we're nothing more than sophisticated animals." He looked around the class, "We've managed to dress up our baser instincts and needs with fancy restaurants, mansions and dating websites, when, in reality, we're just fulfilling the same needs of food, shelter and sex."

Marie shuddered a little when he said the word "sex". From the soft murmur that swept the room, she could tell that he'd had the same affect on plenty of the other girls in class.

He smirked in spite of himself when he heard the soft giggles and whispers that traveled through the classroom.

"Here, I want you to challenge traditional ideals. I want you to remove how you view race, creed, nationality and modern society as you know it. I want to deconstruct everything you believe about human nature so that I can build it back up again."

Marie listened as he spoke, in detail, about his experiences in field studies and what relevance Anthropology has in today's world. She was actually very interested and enjoyed his lecture. He seemed a lot less like a college professor and more like a regular guy who happened to know a lot about the world and people around him. Before they left, he tasked the class to read the first two chapters as well as write a two page paper that detailed the definition of Anthropology, and why the study of it was relevant in the world today.

Marie left feeling confident that she had what it took to succeed in Professor Howlett's class.

That evening, she wrote an eloquent, well thought out, three page paper which she turned in Wednesday.

During Wednesday's class, he reviewed the information covered in the first two chapters and, toward the end of class, decided to encourage participation by engaging in a question/answer session.

He sat on the table in the front and looked around the class, "Ok. So, what's an example of a human constant that has stuck around for millions of years?" When no one raised their hands, he raised his eyebrows, "No one? Not even a guess?"

Marie slowly raised her hand. He craned his neck to look at the owner of the hand and had to stop himself from raising an eyebrow at her beauty. Of all of the sexy little coeds he'd laid eyes on, he'd never been as immediately attracted to any of them as he was right now. She had gorgeous, soulful brown eyes, heart shaped red lips, long, flowing brown hair and a rack that made him want to set aside time in the day just so that he could daydream about nuzzling those perfect, perky pillows.

Logan snaped back to reality and stuttered a little, "Uh...yeah. Go ahead..."

She cleared her throat, "Art."

He cocked his head to the side and tried not to let her beauty distract him, "Really. Art. What makes you say that?"

"Well, an example would be cave drawings. Art has been used as a means of communication and a way to tell stories since the dawning of man. Today, art is still revered and valued. Humankind has and will continue to honor art..."

Logan smiled and nodded as Marie fiddled with her pen and looked down, breaking his gaze, "Very good...she's right. Despite the fact that I've never been an artsy person myself, art is something that humans, as a whole, have a history of holding in high regard. Very good, Miss..."

"Marie...Marie D'Ancanto."

He nodded, favored her with another smile, then continued his lecture.

Marie didn't want to admit it, but she left class on cloud 9.

When Jubilee, Kitty and Marie were done with their classes, they all met up for dinner at a restaurant near campus. There, the girls had a chance to rib Marie about her "encounter" with the hottest professor on campus.

"God, Chica. I'm surprised you didn't melt when he smiled at you!" exclaimed Jubilee.

Kitty giggled, "Forget that. I thought she was gonna faint when he gave her kudos for being right!"

Marie rolled her eyes, "It's not a big deal. It was just a professor asking a student a question and that student answerin'. The man is just doin' his job. Y'all are actin' like middle schoolers."

Kitty wiggled her eyebrows, "Oooh. Touchy! Methinks thou doth protest too much!"

Marie fought hard against the blush that threatened to creep into her cheeks, but luckily, Jubilee and Kitty were distracted by their food arriving.

The following day, Marie went to the class website to see if Professor Howlett posted their grades for their paper yet.

Marie was shocked to see that she'd gotten a C.

During Friday's class, Marie was too angry about her grade to oggle the insanely sexy professor.

When class was dismissed, she started to leave with Jubilee and Kitty, but when they reached the hallway, Marie made up a lame excuse about accidentally leaving a book behind, then convinced them to go back to the dorms without her.

When she returned to the class, it was empty, save for Logan, who was busy putting his books and notepads back in his briefcase. He glanced up and stilled briefly upon seeing her, then slowly returned to placing his items back in his bag, "Marie. What can I do for you?"

_*Holy shit, he remembered my name! Focus, Marie. Focus.*_  
Hol  
During class, she'd had only seen him from her seat that was several rows away from the front of the room. Now, standing just a few feet away from him, she was nearly weak in the knees from how devastatingly handsome he was.

She quickly cleared her throat and shook her head, "I wanted to talk to you about my grade-"

Logan laughed, "Wow. Barely finished up the first week of class and I already have a grade complaint. This might be a personal record." He scrutinized her features and leaned against the table, "Lemma guess...All American prom queen-type who has gotten A's her whole life and shits a brick if she gets a B."

Marie blinked in surprise at the crassness of his comment. Unfortunately, he was right. Aside from the surprise, she was able to recover just enough to retort, "This isn't a B, it's a C, and I don't deserve it."

He cocked his head to the side before opening his briefcase and fishing out a stack of papers. It struck Marie as odd when he was able to easily find her paper and present it to her.

Logan pointed at the first page, "Do me a favor...count how many times 'I' appears in the first page."

Marie narrowed her eyes at him before looking down at the paper. She started counting, but before she could finish, he interrupted her, "You refer to yourself and your, apparently, ever important opinion 17 times on one page."

"It's grammatically sound. I don't understand why this warrants a near-failing grade."

He sighed, "Do you remember what the instructions were for the assignment?"

"Yes."

Logan took the paper back and pointed to it, "I didn't ask what **you** thought about Anthropology. I didn't ask for your opinions. I don't care about your opinions about Anthropology. You actually shouldn't have any opinions about it yet because this is your first week of class. As far as I'm concerned, you don't know enough to have an opinion. I just wanted you to gather facts about how the study of Anthropology affects today's world and interpret them in your own words. I didn't want to be subjected to an autobiography."

Marie crossed her arms, "Fine. Maybe I misinterpreted the paper...but a C? This paper was fresh, grammatically perfect, offered a completely sound story structure AND offered information relevant to the subject at hand. This C doesn't give me credit for any of that!"

He stared at her thoughtfully and took the paper back, "You've made a pretty convincing argument...fine. I'll bump your grade up from a C to a B-...but I expect you to work really hard in this class. You need to let go of your high school self. This isn't small town USA anymore. People aren't fascinated with your pretty smile or the way you twirl your hair..." He cleared his throat and looked down before he quickly began talking again, "I'm concerned with how you process the information provided, as well as how you use it to adapt to the world around you."

Marie slowly nodded, "Right...OK. Thank you. Very much."

Logan nodded before packing up the rest of his briefcase and walking out, "Have a good weekend...prom queen."

That little quip earned him a pretty steely glare from Marie.

She walked back to her dorm completely confused and enthralled with the handsome professor. One second, he infuriated her, while the next, she wanted to jump his bones...and was she mistaken or had he said she had a pretty smile?

Marie couldn't get him out of her head.

She'd never been challenged by anyone as much as he'd challenged her. Things had always come easy for her.

He was right. Back home, all she had to do was flash a winning smile and turn on her sweet southern accent, and she had them eating out the palm of her hand.

It seems this devilishly handsome professor was determined to make her work for every single good grade she got in his class.

At this point, she had no clue that she would literally end up working up a sweat while in Professor James Logan Howlett's class...

* * *

**Review please!**


	3. Intro to Kissing

The following Monday, Logan began piling on the workload and challenging his class. He gave a pop quiz as soon as everyone settled in their seats on Monday morning, then gave them an assignment to write a four page paper that tied in the material within an article he handed out and the first two chapters of the book.

Jubilee and Kitty groaned, and Marie could tell that, to them, his sexiness was definitely not making up for the amount of work he was throwing at them.

For Marie, he was having the exact opposite effect. She welcomed his challenges and met them head on.

In fact, the Monday after she re-negotiated the grade on her first paper, she walked up to him after class with a newly written paper.

When he saw her approaching, he felt his heart start to beat faster.

"Prom queen Marie. What can I do for you?"

She glared at him in spite of herself, "I would really appreciate it if you stopped calling me that."

"Why? You were a prom queen...weren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

Logan crossed his arms, "Ah, so a title that you once wore as a badge of pride has now become a source of contention. Why do you think that is?"

"You", she answered frankly. He started to respond, but she held up a hand. Normally, it would have taken someone more than just the act of holding up their hand to get him to shut up, but, for some reason, it worked with her. She continued, "OK, I admit it. I was the popular girl in high school and stuff did come easy to me, but I know I have the brains and talent needed to succeed and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use the fact that I happened to be well-liked in my home town against me. I'm here tryin' to get a degree so that I can better my life and the lives of those around me just like everyone else."

He stared at her for a while, "Alright. I apologize. From now on, I won't call you prom queen anymore. What can I do for you...Marie."

She presented the paper, "I re-wrote my paper from last week."

He raised his eyebrows, "...you do know that you're not gonna negotiate a higher grade, right? The B minus is final."

Marie nodded, "I'm fully aware of that. I just wanted to express to you that I'm not a 'take the money and run' kinda gal. You want me to prove myself, that's what I'm doin'. I re-wrote the paper to your original specifications and you'll be happy to know that you won't find 'I' in there once..."

"Wow. I'm almost impressed."

"Almost?" she snorted. "Somethin' tells me that you'd have to witness someone movin' the moon and stars for you to actually be impressed."

Logan nodded, "Let's just say it takes a lot."

They stared at each other for a long time before Marie cleared her throat and began awkwardly backing out of the class, "So. You have my paper. Read it...whenever and...I'll see you Wednesday."

"Right. Wednesday."

* * *

Week after week began ticking by and Marie was excelling in her other core classes, which consisted of Algebra, English and History...all courses she'd taken, in some capacity, prior to entering college, which is why they didn't prove to be a serious challenge for her.

The new subject of Anthropology, however, covered information and theories she'd never even heard of before.

She struggled here and there with the papers and endless parade of pop quizzes Logan would sadistically torture his class with, and despite the fact that she was earning a fairly solid B in the class, she was frustrated that she had yet to earn the ever elusive 'A'. No matter what, nothing was ever good enough. He continued pushing her and demanding more, and Marie, although often dispirited, continued to work harder to prove herself to him.

It seemed that, every time she turned in a paper, if she didn't have a problem with it, he did. If he was unsatisfied with her level of work, he'd pull her aside after class to point out what she did wrong and accuse her of "holding back" and "playing it safe".

Logan wanted to drive home the fact that he wanted to challenge her ideals and force her to think outside of the box.

He forced her to do just that when she walked into his classroom and saw one word written in all caps across the blackboard.

SEX.

Marie stopped so abruptly, Jubilee, who had been walking directly behind her, slammed directly into her back.

"Whoa, Chica! A little warning-"

Jubilee's voice trailed off as she followed Marie's gaze to the blackboard. She raised a brow, "Is this serious?"

They took their seats as Logan glanced at his watch, "OK. We've talked about the history of our societal structures, our culture, music, art...but we have yet to talk about the driving force in our culture...sex." When Logan heard soft giggles move through the class, he grumbled, "If you can't handle talking about it, you need to get the hell out. I signed up to be a college professor, not a middle school teacher. You're all adults here. You should be able to hear the word sex without snickering like a bunch of prepubescent boys."

The classroom immediately fell silent again.

He nodded, "Alright. So, this subject is mainly touched on in Chapter 5. You'll be happy to know that, instead of another paper, I'd like for you to prepare an oral presentation in which I want you to present examples of how sex has shaped humankind and our history. You can use whatever references you want, including the text book. I don't care how long it is. I'd rather five minutes of relevant material than twenty minutes of bull shit. This will count toward your midterm exam. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in response, so he decided to move on with his lecture.

Marie left class a little nervous as to how she would possibly get up the nerve to stand in front of a giant classroom (and the world's hottest professor) and talk about sex...AND manage to impress him with her ability to push the envelope.

Deciding the subject matter of her presentation was the easy part. Figuring out the execution, however, was a little more daunting.

The night before her presentation, she received a call from her mother. Marie could tell that something was wrong as soon as she picked up the phone.

"Marie...your father is in the hospital. He had a heart attack."

She didn't remember much after that.

Marie got into her car and, within three hours, she was holding her father's hand as her mother looked on. She sniffled as tears fell down her face, "Daddy...what happened?"

The older man groaned, "I was at work, and I started feeling pain in my right arm...and that's when I passed out."

She wiped her eyes as her mom gently stroked her hair, "The doctor said that he'll be just fine. He just needs plenty of rest and a change in eating and activity habits."

Her father waved a hand dismissively, "I'll be fine."

Marie shook her head, "Daddy...please. I need you around. You gotta take better care of yourself. Promise me."

He looked at her and kissed her forehead, "I will, princess. I don't want you worryin' about me."

She stayed at the hospital all night and well into the morning. When she had a break to go down to the cafeteria to grab her mother some breakfast, she suddenly remembered that she was due to give an oral presentation that counted for half of her midterm grade in less than two hours.

In a panic, she pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling through her school email, desperately searching for any correspondence she might have gotten from Professor Howlett.

As she opened up an email she got from him, she was happy to find that his email signature contained his office phone number.

She only prayed that he was actually in his office as she dialed the number.

Marie paced just outside of the hospital cafeteria as she listened to the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Professor Howlett! Oh thank God. It's Marie."

He sounded slightly confused as he spoke, "Marie. What's up?"

"I uh...I have a pretty big problem on my hands."

Logan groaned, "I don't grant deadline extensions. The presentation is due today."

Before Marie could retort, a page came through on the hospital's overhead speakers 'Paging Dr. Green to Radiology. Paging Dr. Green to Radiology.'

"Are you in the hospital?" he asked, almost urgently.

"Yes...well, no. My dad is. He had a heart attack yesterday and I just...I didn't think, I just came here. I completely forgot-"

"God, Marie. I'm really sorry. Is he gonna be OK?"

She was slightly taken aback by his level of concern, "The doctors say that he got lucky...they're gonna have a nice long talk to him about his eating habits...but he should be OK."

Logan let out a breath, "Don't worry about your presentation. I'll let you make it up during my office hours next week."

"Thank you...thank you. That really means a lot..."

"Don't mention it."

"Alright...goodbye."

"Bye, Marie."

That afternoon, Logan emailed her, letting her know that she could come to his office the following Thursday evening at 7pm to give her presentation.

She knocked on his office door and waited a few moments before she heard him call "Come in" from inside.

Marie slowly opened the door and poked her head in, "Professor Howlett?"

Logan, who was sitting behind his desk, motioned for her to come in, "Hey. Come in."

She stepped in and closed the door behind her, then awkwardly stood in front of his desk. Logan glanced up from the paper in his hands and chuckled a little, "Uh...you wanna take a seat?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Are you nervous or something?"

"To be honest, yes. I'm not a big public speaker."

"It's just us. I thought you'd be relieved."

"Still...I'm not huge on giving speeches."

Logan shrugged, "Well, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Marie nodded, but suddenly grabbed some papers out of her bag and handed them to him, "This is a copy of my dad's discharge papers. His attending physician's number is on the bottom. He can attest to the fact that I was at the hospital last week with my father."

"Um...OK. I believed you. You didn't have to-"

"I just knew that you were probably used to students constantly making up excuses about missing class so I wanted you to know that it was real."

"Well...thanks."

Marie nodded, "Don't mention it."

Logan cleared his throat as she set her bag down, "Ready whenever you are."

"What? You want me to dive right in? No foreplay?"

He almost blushed at that, "Heh. How very witty of you...but sad to say, you don't get extra credit for puns."

She glanced at the plaque on his desk, "James Logan Howlett...do your friends call you Jimmy? James?"

"Actually, my brother calls me Jimmy...my friends and uh...acquaintances...call me Logan."

Marie smiled in surprise, "You have a brother? Any other family?"

"You're stalling. It's not gonna work."

She laughed nervously, "It was working until you noticed!"

Logan laughed, "Come on...just get it over with. It'll be like pulling off a band aid."

"I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna stand in front of my professor and talk about sex...in spite of the fact that I'm a polite southern lady who crosses her ankles when she sits down. I should get extra credit for that alone."

He chuckled again, "What? Because you cross your ankles when you sit down?"

"No! Because I'm not used to talking about sex...in public...and now I am in here, alone...with you...and I'm about to talk about it. In detail."

Despite the fact that he knew it would be wrong, he really liked the sound of that. He shook his head to clear his mind of all of the naughty thoughts that began running through his head and glanced at his watch, "Tick tock, Marie."

Marie closed her eyes and let out a breath before slowly starting her presentation, "Sex...the strongest, most primitive driving force in human history. It is the basis of our survival, our greatest pleasure, and our greatest pain. Men have started wars over sex, and, more importantly, depending on your religion or whatever historical value you place in the holy text, the bible reveals that the alluring temptation of sex was what led us to our greatest fall. The text reveals that Eve...in all of her naked glory, brought Adam the apple, of which he took a bite, and plunged mankind into irredeemable sin. It was the temptation of her...her body...her sex...that made him take the bite. He was willing to risk it all for her...he knew it was wrong, but the temptation was too great. He needed her. Man needs sex. It's within us all. No matter how fancy or complex our society gets, sex will always be what drives us. It's our innate need to reproduce...our desire to touch and be touched...Whether it's Julius Caesar's right, but oh so wrong, obsession with the beautiful Cleopatra, or yet another politician cheating on his wife. Sex overrides all judgement or thought of consequence. Humankind has and always will continue to be ruled by the primitive urge to mate."

Logan stared at her with his mouth hanging open for several seconds after the end of her presentation.

Marie cringed a little, "Complete silence. Was it that awful?"

He blinked and attempted to regain his composure before sitting back, "Actually...that was...really really good."

She brightened and clapped her hands, "Seriously?"

Logan nodded, "That was...incredibly insightful, well thought out, relevant and...it was...great."

He was trying not to accidentally say "arousing", but it was true. He'd had his fair share of delicious dreams starring the fiery coed, but that presentation had taken his desire for her to a whole new level.

Logan looked down at his desk to avoid making eye contact with her, "You have a real talent for this, Marie. I think you're getting what you need to out of this class. What's your major?"

"I'm still undecided."

"Maybe you should consider majoring in Anthropology...or at least minoring. You might be able to join me and some of the grad students on our next field study if you keep this up."

Marie brightened immediately, "Really? But I'm a freshman. I thought-"

"I know. Up until now, I'd never met anyone more determined to prove me wrong. I think your determination is really...impressive."

She raised a brow, "You think I'm impressive?"

Logan smirked as he grabbed a file out of the drawer of his desk and stood to move toward her, "Here's some details about the next field study. We're gonna spend a week in Peru during spring break."

Marie took the file out of his hands, "You get to commune with the indigenous tribes and everything, huh?"

He nodded and stepped up beside her to point to an area on the page, "The itinerary actually has us staying in Lima for a couple of days at the beginning and end of the trip and the hotel is pretty nice. All the creature comforts I'm sure you'd need."

Marie tried not to shudder at the proximity of their bodies. She cleared her throat, "I'll think about it. Thank you."

Logan looked down into her deep, brown eyes and almost whispered, "You're welcome."

It was almost as though there were magnets in her lips. Her breath hitched in her throat and her entire body froze as he leaned toward her.

Before he knew it, his lips were on hers, and, to his surprise, she didn't push him away and run shrieking from his office. She melted into the kiss and slowly slipped her tongue into his mouth as the kiss deepened.

He wrapped his hands around her small waist and pressed her body flush against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Logan was the first to come to his senses, which caused him to quickly end the kiss and step backwards. They were both panting from the sheer passion that had been ignited by the kiss.

Marie slowly brought her hand to her lips, almost as if she couldn't believe that they'd just kissed. He slowly shook his head, "Marie. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...I guess...I should go."

She quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out, barely hearing him call her name as she practically power walked out of the building.

* * *

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	4. Principles of Awkwardness

The word "awkward" couldn't even begin to describe the level of discomfort both Marie and Logan felt in the classes following their kiss.

Marie was almost thankful that she was in the middle of midterms. She was able to dive head first into work and push the kiss to the back of her mind...for the most part.

When she pulled an all nighter and settled down into her bed, she would close her eyes and practically feel his lips on hers all over again. She relived every delicious second of the short, but passionate kiss over and over again. When she watched him in class, she had to be careful not to stare too hard, because her thoughts would often wander to one of the many erotic fantasies she had bouncing around in her head.

When midterms were over, Logan printed out the list of grades and posted them on the bulletin board outside of his classroom. Each student had an ID number assigned to them, so instead of using their names, they could identify their grades via their ID number. That way, grades would remain anonymous since each student was fully unaware of anothers ID.

When class was over, Marie followed her classmates to the bulletin board to find out her midterm grade. She was shocked to see that she had earned an A. No one earned an A in Professor Howlett's class...especially on a midterm.

She was immediately suspicious that this A wasn't earned...but was one akin to "hush money". He was paying her off with a grade so that she would keep her mouth shut about the kiss...either that, or he was giving her a taste of the type of grades she would continue to earn if she kissed him again...or did other things.

Irrationally angry and a little confused, Marie told Jubilee and Kitty she had to talk to the professor, then waited until the hall was clear before she snatched the grade list off of the bulletin board and charged back into the empty classroom.

Logan looked shocked to see her as she stomped toward him, holding up the piece of paper, "What the hell is this?"

"Um...a list of grades."

She slammed the paper down on the table in front of him, "An A? You gave me an A?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "You do know that an A is the highest grade you can get...right? I'm having a hard time understanding why you're so pissed."

"For two months, I have been bustin' my ass in this class and have barely earned a B and all of the sudden, we kiss and I have an A?"

Logan quickly looked around the room and shushed her before letting out a breath, taking her by the arm and practically snatching her into the small office/storage room that was directly next to the blackboard at the front of the class. He slammed the door behind them and turned on the light, "The kiss had absolutely nothing to do with your grade, Marie. If you could remember what I said before the kiss, you'd understand exactly why I gave you the grade I did. Your presentation was brilliantly thought out and perfectly executed. You made me think and question more than anyone else had. That's why you got the A..."

She scrutinized his features to check for any semblence of a lie, "So...this doesn't have anything to do with the kiss?"

Logan closed his eyes, "That never should have happened. I don't know why it happened..."

Marie bit her bottom lip, "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Because I kissed you...and I shouldn't have. I guess it was all of the talk about sex..."

Logan looked confused, "I think you remember wrong. I was the one who kissed you. I'm the one who should be sorry. You had every right to march into the dean's office and have him throw me out on my ass. I've never...I would never try to take advantage of you. I respect you."

Marie licked her lips, "You said you kissed me...why did you do it?"

He stared down into her face for several moments before he sighed, "You're a bright, beautiful young woman, Marie. I'm a professor but...to be honest...I'm a man too.

She was suddenly overwhelmed by the intense desire to throw caution to the wind.

Marie watched as Logan gave a slow nod, then started to exit the room, but before he had the chance to, she grabbed him by his arm. He looked back at her with questioning eyes as she slowly pulled him back toward her.

Her hands slowly moved up his biceps as she stared up into his eyes. Logan's breath hitched in his throat as she slowly moved her body toward his and leaned up, waiting...

He suddenly grabbed her face and yanked her lips to his for a hungry kiss. Marie moaned as he backed her into the nearby shelf.

She unbuttoned his flannel shirt and shoved her hands beneath his undershirt to caress his deliciously defined abs as he moved a hand up her thigh.

Logan moved his lips from her mouth to her neck as he grabbed a hold of the side of her panties and yanked them down. She quickly unbuckled his belt and unfastened his jeans as he raised her leg around his waist and reached between them to grab a hold of his erection.

She arched and gripped onto his shoulders as she felt him enter her. They stilled simultaneously as Logan brought his lips back to hers for a passionate kiss as he started to move in and out of her.

Marie gripped onto his shoulders as he grabbed her other leg and supported her weight before turning them around and pressing her back against the wall. He began fucking her hard against the wall as she whispered his name and held onto his broad shoulders, spurring him on.

Within moments, Marie felt her body shudder as a powerful orgasmn wracked her body. She'd never acheived orgasm during sex before and she'd certainly never experienced one as amazing as the one that now seized control of her body. She had to bite down on Logan's shoulder in order to keep from screaming out.

Marie could have sworn she heard him growl in response.

Logan followed behind, cumming hard within seconds of the start of her orgasm.

They held onto each other tight, riding out the waves of pleasure until they slowly faded away.

Logan slowly moved out of her body and set her feet on the ground, kissing her neck softly as he did.

Marie shakily stood before him as he held onto her waist to steady her, "Are you alright?"

She nodded and breathed out as he slowly tucked himself away and fixed his clothes. Marie did the same, unsure of what she should say.

When she finally thought of an appropriate statement, Logan started to talk. Realizing that she was about to speak, he quieted down, "I'm sorry...go ahead."

"No. You go ahead."

"Well, I was actually gonna just say that I have no idea what to say."

Despite the potentially awkward circumstances, Marie laughed. Logan laughed with her and sighed, "I...I've always thought you were beautiful. From the moment I laid eyes on you...I thought you were...breathtaking."

She slowly leaned up and kissed him, "You have a way with words, Professor Howlett."

"I think you can call me Logan", he said before he kissed her again.

Marie moaned and whispered as he began to kiss her neck, "Mmmm...we should go...we need to go..."

Logan stopped kissing her and slowly straightened, "You're right."

She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes, "This is crazy...I mean, we're both consenting adults..."

"But I'm your professor."

Marie pursed her lips and nodded before looking back up into his eyes, "If someone were to find out...you could lose your entire career and...God knows what my parents would do-"

Logan nodded, "The consequences of this would be really severe."

"So...I guess we shouldn't let this happen again."

He nodded in agreement, "I guess not."

Marie sighed, "Alright."

"Alright, then."

* * *

Marie continued to pour her heart and soul into every assignment, refusing to let up on her hard work just because she'd slept with him. When it came time to register for the following semester's classes, she didn't register for the Latin American Anthropology course that they had discussed in conjunction to the field study in Peru.

Since the higher level classes had much smaller rosters, he was able to spot her absence when he checked his class list for the next semester.

After dismissing the following class, he glanced up as Marie began walking out, "Ms. D'Ancanto. Can I speak with you, please?"

Marie slowly broke out of the line of students that were walking out of the room and walked over to him. He waited until the class was empty before he leaned against the table, "So...I saw you decided not to register for the Latin American Anthropology course."

She sighed, "I didn't it would be a good fit for me."

"Bull shit. You love Anthropology. You're brilliant in this subject...and now you're throwing away a once in a lifetime chance to be the first freshman this university has ever allowed on a field study because of what?"

Marie looked into his eyes before looking down, "Because of you."

Logan seemed genuinely stunned by that admission. He slowly straightened and uncrossed his arms, "Marie..."

She quickly left the room before he could say anymore.

* * *

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	5. The Anatomy of Sexual Attraction

Marie was pretty adept at avoiding Logan, despite the fact that she attended his class three times a week. She would time it perfectly so that she could arrive on time, then immediately dart out when class was over.

He didn't blame her for not wanting to speak to him, but he felt that he needed to speak to her…if only to smooth things over.

After a couple of weeks, Logan decided to take matters into his own hands and register her for next semester's Anthropology class himself. He also drew up a letter to send out to his department in an effort to hand off the class to one of his fellow professors.

He didn't want Marie to miss out on amazing opportunity…even if it meant he'd have to miss out on one of the most important field studies of his career.

Logan planned on distributing the letter once his colleagues returned from the Thanksgiving holiday, which he was spending alone.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Logan sat in his house, nursing a beer and watching SportsCenter as he slowly worked through a stack of papers he'd been grading. The only "celebrating" he was doing this Thanksgiving was giving himself a couple of days away from his normal, intensive grading and planing ritual.

He lived far enough away from campus to stay away from the hustle and bustle, but close enough to feel the effects that a holiday had on a town that was filled with students and staff who weren't from the area. Each major holiday, students and faculty alike immediately returned to their hometowns to spend time with their families, leaving the campus and surrounding area virtually empty.

Logan stayed behind in his small, yet comfortable house, grading papers, working on his thesis and organizing for upcoming field studies.

He was about to go to the kitchen to grab himself some dinner when he heard a knock on his door.

He was extremely surprised when, upon answering it, he saw Marie standing on his front door step.

"Marie. What are you doing here?"

She crossed her arms, "I needed to talk to you about a class that mysteriously appeared on my schedule."

Logan slowly widened the door and motioned for her to come in. She stalked past him before he closed the door behind her and turned around, "Marie, before you say anything—"

"I just needed some time to think. Was that so much to ask? I mean…it's not every day where a student ends up sleeping with a professor, right? You've never done this before…have you?"

"No!" he said quickly, clearly taking offense to her question.

Marie sighed, "I went to the registrar's office to declare my major and add the class to my schedule, only to find that you'd done it for me."

"I'm sorry. I was afraid you were gonna let a really amazing opportunity pass you by…and I couldn't let that happen. Which is why I'm gonna pass that class off to one of my colleagues. That way, you won't have to worry about any weirdness or seeing me."

She shook her head, "Are you gettin' down on yourself for what happened?"

Logan plopped down on the couch, "Shouldn't I be? I mean, I'm the adult in this situation. I was the person in authority who took advantage of an impressionable young woman."

"Wow. Condescending, much? I'm a grown woman. If I can help decide the leader of the free world, I can decide who I have sex with. It wasn't the greatest judgment call on EITHER of our parts, but it was a call we both made. I take offense to any suggestion that I'm some young teenager who is stupid enough to be taken advantage of."

He sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

There was a long moment of silence before Marie crossed her arms and looked around, "So…are you stayin' here for the holiday?"

Logan picked up his beer and nodded, "Yup."

"You're not gonna spend Thanksgiving with your family?"

He sighed, "The only family I have is my brother…Victor…and he's uh…well, let's just say he gets himself in a lot of trouble. It's actually hard for me to remember if he's in or out of jail this month."

Marie cringed, "Oh. I'm sorry."

Logan shrugged, "Not your fault."

"Are you gonna go to dinner at a friend's—"

"You certainly are full of questions."

She shrugged, "I don't like seein' people spend holidays alone."

"Been doin' it for a while. I'll survive."

Marie cocked her head to the side and smiled, "Why don't you come home with me?" Logan immediately started shaking his head, but she quickly held up a hand, "Not as a date or anything, but as my professor who doesn't have anywhere else to go. My parents would love to meet you. They already know that you're the professor who created my desire to declare my major."

Logan still looked unsure, "Uh…I dunno if that's a good idea."

"Oh come on. It's just three hours away and I'll be goin' up for dinner and comin' right back afterwards. It's a huge family thing. You'll blend in with the crowd. We have all the best southern food you can imagine. Ham, turkey, roast beef, dressin', macaroni and cheese, collard greens, sweet potatoes—"

He held up a hand to stop her, "Alright. Fine. I'll come…"

Marie smiled, "Great. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at around 11…OK?"

"Sure."

At about 2'oclock the next afternoon, Marie and Logan were pulling up to the front of her childhood home. Cars filled the driveway and lined the street outside of the large, beautiful home.

Marie led him to the front door and, before she could even touch the knob, the door opened. A bald, older man threw his arms open, "Anna Marie!"

She hugged him, "Hi Uncle Frank."

Uncle Frank loudly announced as he released her, "Hey Viv! Anna Marie is home! And she bought a boyfriend!"

Logan paled as Marie's eyes widened. She began yelling a correction, "No! No! He's not my boyfriend. He's not my boyfriend. He's my Anthropology professor."

Marie's mother quickly made her way through the crowded living room and to the front foyer where she favored her daughter with a warm embrace and looked to Logan with an uncertain smile. One look at her face told Logan that she hadn't heard Marie's announcement that he was her professor, "Who's this?"

Marie placed a hand on Logan's back and gave him a gentle nudge forward, "This is my Anthropology professor. Mr. Howlett."

Her mother let out a sigh of relief and quickly enveloped him in a hug, catching him off guard, "So nice to finally meet you! Marie's told us so much about you. She tells us you're the reason she finally decided to declare a major."

Logan smiled politely and laughed a little, "Uh, well, I can't take all the credit. Your daughter is really bright."

She was about to reply when they suddenly heard a booming southern voice interject, "Is that my baby girl?"

Logan watched as Marie's father made his way toward her and took her face in his hands before kissing her forehead. She smiled, "Hey daddy. How are you feelin'?"

"I would be fine if your momma wasn't tryin' to deprive me of all my favorite foods on a holiday centered 'round eatin'!"

Marie smiled, "You know it's for your own good. We want you to stay around for a long time."

"I know baby girl…who's this?" he said, transferring his gaze to Logan.

"This is my professor, Mr. Howlett. He didn't have anywhere to go this Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be a good idea to show him some southern hospitality."

"Well, you came to the right place! What's your first name?"

"James."

Marie's dad wrapped an arm around Logan's shoulder and pulled him toward the living room, "Let's go watch some football, Jimmy."

Logan sat among Marie's dad, uncles and cousins, watching football. He was pleasantly surprised when Marie entered the living room, wearing an apron and carrying a platter of appetizers.

She made her way through the crowd, offering hors d'oeuvres to everyone in the room. When she got to Logan, their eyes connected and the world around them seemed to slow down. She stood in front of him in silence for several seconds before she broke out of her reverie and cleared her throat, "Want a canapé?"

Logan picked one up off the tray and smirked, "Thanks…"

Marie nodded before slowly walking away. Luckily, all of the other people in the entire room were completely enthralled in the football game, so they didn't notice their little exchange.

After sitting with a room full of boisterous men and cheering along through a really amazing football game, the entire house sat down to a huge, delicious meal. Logan ate until he was stuffed. Soon after dinner was finished, the house began to empty out.

Logan volunteered to help do the dishes, so he ended up drying as Marie washed. About halfway through the dishes, Marie's mother walked in to relieve him. He wandered into the empty living room and began looking through the pictures that adorned the walls, bookshelves and fireplace mantle.

There were tons of pictures from Marie as a toddler, young girl and teenager, but no baby pictures.

He almost jumped when he heard Marie's voice, "I'm just about to say goodnight to my dad and then we can hit the road."

"No rush", he said with a brief wave of his hand. He pointed at the picture in front of him, "I don't see any baby pictures."

"Oh. That's cause I'm adopted."

He looked surprised, "Oh. I had no idea."

Marie smiled, "It's not a sensitive subject. I've always known. My um...biological mother had a severe drug problem. She abandoned me when I was 3…my parents became my foster parents and, a year later, they officially adopted me."

"Wow. You have quite a story…do you remember your mom?"

She sighed a little, "Bits and pieces. I don't think I'd be able to pick her out of a line up or anything…"

"You overcame a pretty rough start to grow up to become a hometown princess and a prom queen."

Marie nodded and laughed, "Yep. We all have our sob stories…some worse than others…but it can never be an excuse to fail or make poor choices. We're all in charge of our own destinies."

Logan cocked his head to the side and stared at her thoughtfully. The arrival of her parents distracted him. He immediately shook their hands and thanked them profusely for allowing him to join them for the holiday before he dismissed himself so that Marie could say her goodbyes to them without a "stranger" looking on.

It was just after midnight by the time they returned to Logan's house near campus. The three hour drive had been long and a little on the quiet side.

When they reached his house, Marie asked if she could come in to use the bathroom. Logan straightened up his place a little bit while she was in the restroom, and was grabbing her a bottle of water by the time she emerged.

"Hey…want a bottle of water?" he asked, holding it up.

Marie nodded and took the water, "Thanks."

Logan opened his own bottle and took a sip before letting out a breath, "I had a great time today. Thank you."

She smiled, "My pleasure…Mr. Howlett."

He let out a soft laugh and nodded as she slowly started making her way toward the door. Logan quickly realized that he wasn't ready for her to leave, so he called her name, "Marie."

She turned around, "Yeah?"

"I uhhh…thought you might want the chance to check out some of the research I've done on indigenous tribes of South America."

Marie nodded, "Sure. OK."

A few minutes later, Logan was showing her some of his research material, "…this tribe was really interesting because they actually allow women to accompany men on the hunting trips."

"Wow. That's definitely a break from traditional gender roles."

"Yeah", he said, staring at her profile as she continued reading the paper. He had never wanted to kiss anyone more than he wanted to kiss her in that moment. Logan smiled as she let out a soft yawn and shook her head. Before he could stop himself, he reached over and gently tucked her hair behind her ear, "You look tired."

Marie was a little surprised by the gesture as she looked back over at him, "Yeah. It's been a long day."

"You're right."

She stood up and started to make her way to the door. She turned back around and gave him a sweet hug. In response, he kissed her cheek…then her other cheek…and then, they were making out against the door.

Marie unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it off of his shoulders. He unfastened her pants and broke the kiss long enough to yank them down off of her waist before he reconnected his lips to hers.

She unfastened his belt just before he picked her up, causing her to automatically wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her to his bedroom, where they continued to kiss as they fell against the bed.

Logan slowly ended the kiss and lifted himself up to look down at her. He stared down into her eyes as he helped her pull her shirt off, then removed her bra.

He kissed her lips and trailed soft kisses down her neck before he began peppering her breasts with sweet, wet kisses. Marie gasped as he took one of her nipples in her mouth and began gently suckling the perfect, pinkish brown bud.

She arched and ran her fingers through his hair as he switched to her other breast, then kissed his way down her stomach. When he reached the apex of her thighs, he pulled her panties down and gently kissed the inside of her thigh before he gently began licking her.

"Oh God…Logan…Logan…"

Logan slowly kissed his way back up to her lips as she pushed his pants and underwear off of his waist. Marie moaned as he entered her, burying himself inside of her to the hilt.

He whispered her name as he began slowly moving in and out of her, savoring every single inch of her as he caressed her body.

She bucked her hips upwards, silently encouraging him to let her get on top. He grabbed her waist and rolled onto his back, taking her with him so that she landed on top of him.

Marie placed her hands on his pecs to balance herself as she began rolling her hips.

After several moments, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her as they began moving faster and harder in unison.

She whispered, "I'm gonna cum…" just before she cried out and gripped onto him tight.

Logan pressed his forehead against hers as he came with her, growling out her name as he spilled himself inside of her.

He collapsed backwards, panting, as she lay against his chest, savoring the feel of his body against hers.

For several minutes, they laid there in silence. The only sound in his house was their soft pants and an occasional soft moan.

Marie didn't want the night to end. At least here, laying in his arms, she wouldn't have to worry about the consequences of their affair. She could pretend that the world outside of these walls didn't exist, and she could stay in his arms for as long as she wanted…but unfortunately, the world outside of those walls did exist. Marie started to get up, but he tightened his arms around her.

Logan kissed her forehead and stroked her hair, "Stay…"

She lifted her head up to look into his eyes as she rested her chin against his chest, "Gimme some incentive."

He smirked before he rolled them over and began kissing her neck, giving her all the incentive she needed to want to stay.

* * *

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	6. Remedial Emotions

Marie woke up naked, sprawled across Logan's bed with the sheet haphazardly draped over her backside. She ran a hand through her hair and sat up, wrapping the sheet around her body as she rubbed a hand down her face as she shook herself out of her morning cloud.

She hadn't gotten much sleep. She and Logan had stayed up, making love for hours the night before and she'd lost count of the number of orgasms he'd driven her to.

Marie felt like she had lived a night that had been lifted off of the pages of a Harlequin romance novel.

She looked around the room and was unable to immediately spot her clothes, so she picked up Logan's flannel shirt and slipped it on before tip toeing out into the living room.

"Logan?"

His shirtless form emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray. She smiled, "What's this?"

"Breakfast. The one meal I do know how to cook."

Marie laughed a little as he set the tray down on the coffee table, then motioned for her to sit on the couch.

When they settled down, she plucked a piece of bacon from a plate and began eating it as he helped himself to some coffee and toast.

They hadn't done a whole lot of talking the night before, so now that they were sitting here quietly after hours of rigorous sex, and she didn't quite know what to say.

He looked at her, "That shirt looks…amazing on you."

She blushed and fiddled with the collar, "Really? I couldn't find my clothes."

"Well, your bra's over there…shirt's by the door….panties are in the bedroom somewhere…I think…"

Marie giggled, "We covered some ground, huh?" She stayed silent for several minutes before she sighed, "What are we doin'?"

He let out a breath and ran both hands through his hair, "I have no idea."

She shook her head, "I mean…nothing can ever come of this…"

"I know", Logan said with a deep sigh before taking her hand. "Goddamit."

"What is it?"

"I know no one can ever find out, and we can't be in a real relationship in the foreseeable future…but this was probably the best 24 hours I've had in a really long time…"

She smiled, "Yeah…me too."

Logan gently brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her hand. Marie almost allowed herself to get lost within his gaze again, but she quickly stood, "I guess I should get goin'…"

"Yeah…maybe you're right…unless-"

"Unless, what?"

He shrugged a little before grasping her waist and pulling her toward him, "Classes are out until Monday. The campus and town are usually empty until Sunday…"

"You don't think it's just prolonging the inevitable? It's like we're torturing ourselves."

"Then call me a masochist", he said before dipping down and drawing her in for a hungry kiss.

An hour later, they were laying in his bathtub. He laid back against the far end with Marie's back pressed against his chest.

She picked his hand up out of the water and gently caressed his large fingers, "You never told me how you got into Anthropology."

Logan slowly curled his fingers around her hand and stroked her wrist with his thumb, "I didn't? Oh…well, you're not gonna believe this, but I actually ended up switching my major from Engineering to Anthropology to impress a girl."

Marie laughed, "You did not!"

"Swear to God."

"Wow. She musta been somethin'", she said, as she continued to play with his hand.

Logan sighed, "She was somethin', but not in the good sense…at least, that's what I found out a couple of years after we started going out."

"What happened?"

He shrugged a little, "She cheated on me with one of her grad school classmates, and, obviously, things went south after that."

"Oh. What was her name?"

"Jean Grey. She's a Bioanthropology professor at USC now…"

Marie bit her lip, "You don't wanna talk about her do you?"

"Nope."

She turned around in the tub to face him, "Good. Neither do I."

He smiled at her as she began running her hands over his chest, "What the fuck is an Anthropology professor doing so ripped? Are you a super hero in your spare time?"

Logan laughed, "Yes. My power is guaranteeing toe-curling orgasms."

Marie raised a brow, "Ah. Well, I have super powers too."

"What are they?"

She kissed his neck, then his ear before whispering, "Underwater blow jobs."

He barely had time to react as Marie disappeared under the surface of the water. Impressively enough, she only had to come up twice for air before he hit his climax.

For the following 36 hours, they did little more than talk, make love, bathe and eat.

When Saturday night arrived, Marie decided that it would be a good idea to leave. Logan watched her as she slowly got dressed and put on her shoes.

He followed her as she walked to the door, "Monday's gonna be hard."

Marie nodded in agreement, "Yeah…"

Logan laughed a little, "Not to be awkward, but um…finals are around the corner…and I'm still gonna grade you like before."

She laughed softly, "I have no problem with that."

"Good…"

Sunday night, when Jubilee and Kitty returned from their Thanksgiving holiday with their families, they immediately went to work, studying for their various upcoming final exams.

Sometime during the evening, Marie received a call on her cell. She quickly picked it up, "Hello?"

"Marie. Are you alone?"

She looked at Jubilee and Kitty to ensure they couldn't hear Logan on the other end. When it appeared that neither of her friends were paying attention, she answered, "Nope. Not really."

"Can anyone else hear me?"

Marie looked at Jubilee and Kitty again. The two were talking amongst themselves, apparently working through an Algebra problem.

"No. That won't be an issue."

Logan practically growled into the phone, "I've been thinkin' of you since you left…I miss being inside of you."

Marie had to stop herself from shuddering as she stood and walked over to the window, "I was thinkin' the same thing. All day."

"Then come to my office…after class tomorrow…"

"Um. Is that a good idea?"

Logan sighed, "I don't care. I need you."

"I'll see you then."

Marie hung up the phone and turned back to Jubilee and Kitty, who had no idea who or what had been said on the other end of her phone conversation.

After class the next morning, Marie dutifully arrived at Logan's office. When she knocked, he yelled "Come in" from inside.

As she stepped inside, he quickly stood and moved toward her. Logan reached behind her and locked the door before he quickly moved her jacket off of her shoulders, "You don't know how hard it was for me to be alone in my house after you left…laying on sheets that still smelled like you…"

Marie's eyes rolled closed as he ran a hand down her waist and kissed her neck, "Oh God…I want you so bad…"

"Tell me what you want…" he whispered against her ear.

She fisted her hands in his hair and nipped at his lip, "Bend me over the desk and fuck me…"

Logan kissed her hungrily before breaking the kiss, snatching her around and pushing her down, face first against his desk. He reached beneath her skirt and yanked her panties down before unfastening his own pants and pulling out his erection.

He placed a hand on her back and held her in place as he slammed himself inside of her. Knowing that there were other offices mere feet away from where they were frightened and excited Marie at the same time.

She covered her own mouth as he thrust in and out of her, panting and grasping onto her hips to maximize penetration.

Logan leaned down and kissed her neck as he continued moving in and out of her, gradually increasing his pace in an effort to quickly push them toward a powerful climax.

Marie's orgasm caught her by surprise, which almost drew a scream from her lips. Luckily, Logan had enough sense to cover her mouth as he drove them toward a simultaneous climax.

Her knees weakened so much, he practically had to hold her up as they both began slowly floating down from Cloud 9.

A half hour later, they were on the floor behind his desk, snacking on Logan's stash of jelly beans. He lay on the floor with his head in her lap as she picked her way through the bag, turning her nose up at certain flavors.

He snatched a red jelly bean from her and ate it before she gave him a playful swat on the forehead, "Stop stealin' my red jelly beans!"

"This whole damn bag is mine. You're lucky I'm sharing."

Marie laughed before looking down at him, "What time is your next class?"

He glanced at his watch and sat up, "Thirty minutes."

She nodded, "Same here."

Logan gently kissed her lips, "I wish I could just take you home and get you naked…"

Marie blushed, "You sure do know how to get a girl goin'…don't ya?"

He kissed her neck, "I dunno…you tell me."

Her eyes rolled closed as he continued kissing her neck, "Cut it out. We have classes to get to."

Logan groaned as he stopped kissing her and stood, then helped her to her feet, "If you can get away tonight…you know where to find me."

She kissed him, "I have a study session for YOUR class with Jubilee and Kitty tonight."

He smirked, "Oh…well, in that case…good luck."

Just before she opened his office door, he favored her ass with a firm slap. She giggled and hit him on the shoulder before rushing from the room.

A couple of weeks later, it was time for finals and, thanks to hectic schedules of study sessions and exams, Marie and Logan couldn't find time to spend with each other.

After her last final, she decided to pay him a visit in his office to "check on her grade". Upon her arrival at his office, she found the door to be slightly ajar.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard voices inside.

Thinking that he was probably in with a student, she decided to just wait until he was done. She leaned against the outside wall of the hallway, waiting for him to get done as she pulled out her phone and began surfing the web.

The sound of a woman's voice purring, "Aw Logan…come on. You know you wanna" caught her attention.

Marie perked up and moved a little closer to the door so that she could listen to the conversation more closely.

The woman continued, "There's nothing for you here…is there?"

Logan stuttered a little bit, "I dunno…look, Jean, this isn't something you spring on someone and expect an immediate answer. I need time to think."

"Don't think for too long. USC doesn't just wait around for people to accept their job offers. They move on if you make them wait."

Marie knew that this was the Jean Grey Logan had told her about…the woman who she didn't know, but had already grown to hate.

* * *

**Thank you all for the reviews! Please keep them coming!**


	7. The Evolution of Relationships

Marie left his office without letting him know that she was there, and quickly returned to her dorm so that she could pack up for the long winter holiday.

She'd originally told Logan that she would stay in town for a few days, just to spend some time with him, but after hearing the infamous Jean Grey's voice in his office, she'd changed her mind.

Logan had tried to call her several times throughout the remainder of the afternoon, but she ignored his calls and texts.

The next day, he pulled a risky stunt and decided to go to her dorm. Luckily, Kitty and Jubilee were already gone by the time he arrived.

Marie's dorm room door was propped open, so he just stepped into the doorframe and knocked, "Anyone home?"

Marie, who was packing up her computer, glanced up, "Oh. Hi."

Logan stepped into her room and looked around, "Tweedle dumb and dumber are already gone, huh?"

She looked up at him, "What are you doin' here?"

He held up her final exam, "Thought you might wanna know your grade."

Marie nodded, "Ok. What is it?"

"You got a C." She stopped what she was doing and looked up at him as he cracked a smile, "Just kidding. Solid A. Congratulations."

She let out a grunt as she moved a box to her bed and began tossing clothes into her suitcase. He closed her door and locked it, "Did I do something that you should be mad about?"

Marie raised a brow, "I dunno. Did you?"

"What's going on with you?"

She stopped what she was doing and ran a hand through her hair, "You know, I should blame myself. I'm stupid. I don't know what I expected out of this or how long it was gonna last. I mean, it wasn't a real relationship anyways, so I don't know why I'm even bothered getting upset."

Logan furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you even talking about?"

She sighed, "I know you had a certain visitor from southern California, Logan. She who shall not be named…"

He put his hands on his hips and shook his head before looking down, "It's not what you think."

"It's fine. You don't have to expl—"

"Dammit, Marie. Would you just stop?! I've let you in like I've never let anyone in before. I've shared things with you that I never would even dream about telling anyone else. I put my entire career…my life as I know it, on the line just to spend time with you and you think I'd just throw that away for a woman who's broken my heart before?! Rich. Really rich."

Marie lowered her head as tears formed in her eyes, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry. You're right." She shook her head and looked away as she wiped her tears away, "What did she want?"

"She's going back to med school. She wants to get an MD and practice medicine…so her position as head of USC's Anthropology department is becoming vacant. She wants me to replace her."

Marie nodded and stayed silent for a long time before pursing her lips and taking a deep breath, "That is an amazing opportunity. You'd be crazy not to take it."

He took a step forward, "Well, I have told you, on more than one occasion, that you drive me crazy…"

She closed her eyes as he cupped her face in his hand, preparing to lean down and kiss her, "Logan…you can't pass this up for me. What we have isn't even—"

"…isn't even what? Real? Just because we can't wear matching shirts to concerts or double date with friends doesn't negate how we feel about each other."

Marie shook her head and backed away from him, "You wouldn't let me give up on an opportunity for you, I'm not gonna let you do it for me."

"What are you saying?"

She slowly took his face in her hands before laying a loving, passionate kiss on his lips, "I'm sayin' goodbye."

Logan watched her as she picked up her suitcase and walked out of the room.

He tried to call her and even texted her several times in the days following, but after a week, he realized how serious she was about not letting him make her a factor when it came to making his decision to pass on a career-making job.

The fact that she was willing to let him go made him care about her even more.

Unbeknownst to Marie, he arranged to start his new job a couple of days late just so that he could see her before he left.

When she returned to her dorm room after winter break, she found him sitting on her bed.

"Logan…"

He held up a hand, "I did take the job…in fact, my plane leaves in two hours…"

"Oh…what are you doing here?"

He stood and walked over to her, "I wanted to tell you something."

Marie looked up into his hazel eyes, willing herself not to get lost within his intense gaze, "Ok…tell away."

Logan brushed a hand down her cheek, "I love you…"

She blinked away a few tears and wrapped her arms around his neck as she whispered, "I love you too…"

He kissed her lovingly and pressed his forehead against hers, "You've made these past few months so damn wonderful…"

After a few moments, they were able to move away from each other and say goodbye for a final time.

They tried to keep in contact via email and phone calls. Every now and then, they'd Skype, and she'd get his help in studying for an exam or working on an Anthropology project.

Meanwhile, Logan settled into his new position and put his all back into his work…the same way he had been doing before Marie came into his life.

As the months turned into years, the phone calls grew fewer and far between, and any hope of post-grad reconciliation began to slip out of both of their minds.

All either of them had left were warm memories of the nights they'd spent, making love and sharing intimate secrets.

As Marie's time at undergrad grew to a close, she had to make the decision to either enter the work force or pursue a post graduate degree. She applied to a few choice programs, and due to her amazing GPA, was accepted into all of them…including UCLA, which was only about a 30 minute drive away from USC…but was a world away from her parents and the life that she knew.

She didn't know if it would be a good idea to go to Los Angeles based solely on Logan's presence. After all, she wasn't even sure he even felt the same way about her. For all she knew, he could be married with kids by now. They hadn't spoken in over a year.

Marie still thought about him every day, and her attempts at dating had all ended disastrously. She soon realized that it was because she was looking for another Logan.

By the time she graduated, she was still undecided as to which program she would pursue. She spoke to the admissions directors at the schools and asked them for more time, so they extended her acceptance deadline.

Her mom and several of her relatives attended her graduation, which was a joyous event for the entire family. After the ceremony, her parents threw her a large party and gave her a check from her trust fund to help her get on her feet as a "real adult".

After the festivities, she returned to her apartment and showered. As she settled down in bed, she noticed she had a missed call on her phone, so she picked it up and checked her voicemail.

Her heart leapt into her throat the moment she heard Logan's voice on the line, "Hey Marie….I know today was your graduation day and you're probably busy, but I wanted to call you and just…tell you how proud I am of you…and tell you that…I miss you. I still think of you-but I know you've moved on with your life and you're happy, so….I just wanted to tell you congratulations. Take care."

The next morning, Marie called UCLA.

A few weeks later, Logan was walking out of the Anthropology building on USC's campus. He was having a particularly shitty day after dealing with the parents of some douchey, entitled brat who had (rightfully) gotten a D on his first exam.

Logan cursed as he dropped his tattered briefcase and spilled some of its contents onto the sidewalk.

He was shoving items back into his bag when he thought he heard the name that no one on USC's campus ever used in reference to him. Here, he was Professor Howlett or, to his co-worker, James.

He heard "Logan" get called again, and he looked up in the direction he heard the name come from. Through the crowd of students, he saw Marie…the woman of his dreams and the love of his life jogging through the crowd toward him.

He left his things laying there as he stood and took off running. He grabbed her and picked her up as she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

Logan held her for several moments before he set her down and brushed her hair out of her face, "This isn't a dream…right?"

Marie laughed softly and shook her head, "No."

He cupped her face in his hand, "I called you—"

"I know. And I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you back. I got really busy with my move to LA."

His eyes widened, "You're not a student here, are you? Cause, if you are, we still can't-"

"No. You and I are rivals. I'm just down the highway at UCLA…"

Logan grabbed her face and kissed her hungrily, "I missed you so much."

She kissed him back and moaned against his lips, "Oh god…I need you."

"Where's your apartment?" he said with a sly smirk.

Marie raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with your office, professor?"

Logan took her by the hand and started leading her back toward his building, "Just like old times…"

* * *

**THE END**

**To all of my faithful readers, I'd like to thank you for all of the feedback you've given me throughout ALL of my stories. I appreciate the time you've taken to read my pervy Rogan fics. They were so much fun to write, and I hope to be able to re-enter the world of Fanfic in the future, but I know there will be a definite 6-8 month period where I will be absent. If I have time, I'll see if I can upload some of my rough works that I decided not to post, just to tide some of you over.**

**I will miss all of you! You all have contributed to making me a better, more thoughtful storyteller. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my pervy heart! :-)**

**Happy Reading!**


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